The Neon Bag Trend Continues... Plus: A Trend Manifesto

If you're not into the neon bag trend, then that's fine. It's not for everyone. They're definitely a bit noisy, but then again, so am I, so it works! I'm basically a moth to a flame (burned by the fire! My love is blind, can't you see my desire?... Sorry! Janet tangent!) where neon's involved, so the proliferation of neon bags, apparel and accessories has me totally in my zone (don't LET ME get in my zone -- sorry, Kanye/ Jay tangent). 

But if you're too terrified of monochrome neon, a neon and neutral combo is the perfect way of saying "Hey, it's a party over here, but I'm also very much capable of getting down to business.

I saw this Melie Bianco Callie bag in the window of Lee Lee's Valise, so of course I had to stop in for some ogling and groping.

$79, Melie Bianco

 
Only the fact that I already own at least three neon bags (not that that's enough) and the fact that I blew about $500 before breakfast last week kept me from whipping out my dear companion, JPC (also known as my Chase card) and taking her for a quick joyride through LeeLee's credit card reader. But in the words of my darling friends Amber/ Beauty Blogging Junkie and Dina/ Eye4Style, this bag is totally cute for you.

Also, an anecdote regarding the ubiquity of neon bags and "trendy" apparel in general. 




I was carrying my Cambridge Satchel to a press event several months back. A fellow friend and blogger, whose company I usually quite enjoy, straight-up said, in a judgmental, loaded sort of way, "So. You really like that bag?" To which I slowly blinked and responded "Well, of course, given I'm WEARING IT ON MY PERSON." She then gave me an "awww honey" sign and said something foot-consuming in that along the lines of "I mean, like, they're cute, but I liked them, like, last year when every blogger had them." 

Oh.

Okay.

So, I responded along the lines of "Well, I'm not 'every blogger,'" (whatever that even means), and I've never given even the teeniest, tiniest fuck about wearing something, or, even sadder, not wearing something because -- KORS FORBID -- it's not in accordance with "The Imaginary Fashion Blogger Calendar Of What's Okay To Wear And What's Not." Because, again, I have nary a single fuck to toss in that direction, because I am not in high school (definitely didn't even care when I was in high school either), and because the entire idea of a bag or a style of jeans or flatforms or whatever being "in or out" is completely a social construct. Sure, something may be in magazines and stores RIGHT THIS MINUTE, but when you choose to wear them is when it's right for you. If I happen to wear something that's "trendy" or ubiquitous, then hey, hat tip to those other chicks I pass rolling down the street in neon bags. Clearly we're kindred spirits where neon is concerned. And if someone thinks I'm wearing a neon bag or floral blouse or turban or bike part in my hair or sneakers around my neck strictly to fit in with the other girls (and gay boys) wearing the same thing, then, here's a breaking news topic to add to your Google Alerts: I. DON'T. GIVE. A. FUCK. (I've also never worn sneakers around my neck or bike parts in my hair, but I am 100% serious when I tell you I saw a girl wearing a bike fender. Maybe she didn't realize it was there?) The fact that the idea of a notion of "what's hot or not" actually would keep someone from wearing something OR expending enough energy to suggest to someone else that the bag they're carrying has an expiration date is just sad. Life's too short for blog-bag shaming. March to the beat of your own drummer and your own bag collection, not the blogosphere's. You do you, in whichever color combo that ends up being.

I get up in the morning, and I wear what makes me happy, regardless of when I bought it or if thousands of other girls on the Internet have been photographed wearing the same thing or if it's the only bag/ blouse/ necklace/ cowboy hat (I mean, I would never wear a cowboy hat, but that's just me) of its kind ever produced. And then, to paraphrase Henry David Thoreau, I go confidently in the way of my dreams, coffee, the subway, dinner, or in search of more neon bags... to carry my lack of fucks.